Imam Khomeini’s steadfast support for the deprived and the oppressed
Imam (r.a.) was an ardent advocate of the weak and underprivileged classes. He used to reject economic inequality in a very serious and severe way. He used to reject aristocracy with bitterness. He was an advocate of social justice in the true sense of the word. Advocating underprivileged classes of society was perhaps one of the issues that he repeated the most in his speeches. This was one of his clear and definite guidelines. Everyone should try to uproot poverty. Everyone should try to liberate underprivileged classes from poverty. Everyone should help them as much as they can. On the other hand, he used to warn the officials of the country about living the life of a courtier. This has also been mentioned in the Holy Quran: "And you dwelt in the dwellings of men who wronged their own souls" [The Holy Quran, 14: 45]. He used to prevent everyone from living the life of a courtier.
He used to stress that officials should have trust in the loyalty of underprivileged classes. He used to repeat many times that it is the residents of slums, the poor and underprivileged classes who fill the scenes despite their poverty. They do not even complain and they participate in dangerous arenas. On the contrary, those who were well-to-do would in fact complain more if there was a problem in a certain area. From the viewpoint of Imam (r.a.), the loyalty of middle and underprivileged classes was an outstanding phenomenon and he placed great emphasis on it. He also stressed the necessity of using public funds in the correct way and avoiding extravagance. This was another fundamental guideline that Imam (r.a.) had: the issue of administering social justice, advocating underprivileged classes, avoiding an aristocratic lifestyle and taking action in this direction.
Comment